Modern Warfare
by TremorTauge
Summary: RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT RIOT (in two chapters). Love story across tribes about revenge and reconciling set during the time of the War of SandWing sucession. [Finally got the plot figured out.] Contains somewhat explicit words. Read at your own comfort?
1. Chapter 1

**Re uploaded** **because I realized I messed up the timeline of the story**

Queen Glacier had a thing for speeches. I knew personally, having attended four hundred thirty-eight one them; this one was no different. Many of my comrades would say they were inspiring or rousing, but truth is, most of us would rather be doing something else.

Take me for example. I love electronic music. My idea of inspiring is listening to Tristam – Surrender. The lyrics and melody convey more than all seven hundred ninety-one speeches I've heard my entire life, and it's not even released yet. Most of my colleagues think I'm weird. After all, I don't go shopping very often, and when I do, it's for tech equipment. Ender doesn't get why I don't get talon-icures every other day, Freeze doesn't understand why I don't find his ice statues hilariously entertaining (amend to that, I do think it's _quite_ funny when somebody accidently knocks the heads off), and I'm not entirely sure if the queen approves of my six headphones and home studio.

I'm too high ranked for anything to happen to me though.

When I was young, never knew a single thing about rankings, until I was forced to join the army, but instead I chose to go to the air force. Being raised outside of the palace, I had experience of flying every day with my ordinary wings, and the F-18s weren't all that different. Sure, they flew three times faster than the conventional dragon, but the in the Ice Kingdom, we really didn't have the need or the capacity to maintain a large air fleet. Our only air fields were at the edge of the kingdom, where the ice was manageable enough for the runways. The pilots got around on transport helicopters, or some like me just flew to the airfield.

My squadron was being assigned to do some exercises with the Skywing bomber airborne fleet, even though they obviously had the better equipped aircraft, and would benefit from having an alliance with the Sandwings, with their state of the art tanks and artillery.

However, Queen Glacier was a careful ally, and didn't want to give away air superiority. This was more a plead from the Icewings than a need from the Skywings. Nonetheless an assignment was an assignment, and I wasn't one for disobeying.

After a short speech, something about bravery and the whatever, I was heading back to my little corner of the palace, when I heard a cough behind me. A fourth circle messenger stood there, holding out an ice tablet in his talons. "The Queen requests your presence. Immediately."

What could the Queen want with me?

Glacier's throne room was rather bare, only holding necessities and few decorations. None of the other tribes ever visited (or could visit for that matter), and Glacier was a practical Queen, preferring to spend more of her budget on the navy, especially the fleet of ice breakers, which were essential due to how our harbor was iced in more than half of the year.

The Queen herself sat on a slightly raised chair, adorned with the most valuable treasure, a scepter enchanted three thousand years ago, allowing instant communication, although it was made obsolete by cell phones.

Glacier beckoned me to stand in front of her, and I prepared myself for another boring speech, but instead she asked a question.

"You are seventeen and unmarried correct?"

"Yes, your majesty." The question surprised me, as nobody has ever ventured into my personal life. I was quite old to not be married, and I wasn't betrothed to anyone. I had liked someone five years ago, but they moved on and were married to another high ranking Icewing.

The Queen continued talking. "I would have Tundra do this, however, as she is married to my brother, I will not mess with her personal life. I trust that you've heard the stories about animus magic?"

Of course, I had, all Icewing dragonets were told from a young age that Prince Arctic was the last animus dragon in the tribe, and that Foeslayer, a Nightwing had stolen him and any future gifts that might had become reality had he not been so selfish to his own desires. The pairing hadn't brought anything good upon either tribes either. Supposedly Arctic's own son, Darkstalker was evil and killed his father, and the whereabouts of Foeslayer was unknown.

That was how the story was told at least. I always felt sympathetic for Arctic. If the princess he'd been betrothed to was like the current princess, then no wonder he had issues. However, it's just fleeting thoughts. Animus magic was stolen, and hasn't turned up in centuries.

The mention of Queen Glacier's brother made me cringe a little on the inside, but Narwhal and I rarely came face to face these days, even as high-ranking dragons.

"As you know," Glacier continued speaking, "animus power is passed down genetically, and using this knowledge, I have plan to restore this powerful magic to its rightful place, upon the ranks of the Icewings. There are rumors circulating of a Skywing whose offspring are guaranteed to be animus. During the six months you are assigned there, you will see if the rumors are true, and if they are, mate with him and bring back a clutch of eggs."

The order sounded pretty reasonable, except for one part. "I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but, why are you so … _desperate_ … to get animus blood back into the tribe?"

"I thought you might ask," the Queen nodded, "The alliances are not going to be stable for much longer. The sea ice around our kingdom is melting, which means soon, the SeaWing marine fleet will have access. We cannot let their submarines in, and the best way to ensure that is to have it physically impossible to surface without the help of our ice breakers. I cannot trust Auburn to keep them at bay. If we have animus dragons on our side, then we'll be unstoppable. The dragonets you'll bring back will then be married into royalty, and over time, the Skywing blood in them will be filtered out, but the animus power will remain."

"Indeed."

"That is all I have to say, if there's anything I need you to know, then I'll contact you by email. Now go and do your duty."

I saluted and exited the throne room, with a mission to complete.

The F-18s were a relic of the past, but since they hadn't broken yet, Glacier didn't bother acquiring the new F-22s. Instead, we were equipped with three bushmasters, as our purpose was more for defense. In this mission, we would fly the airplanes ourselves, as we had no aircraft carrier like the SeaWings. The Skywing base we were flying to was the closest to the kingdom. Auburn insisted upon receiving us there, for reasons unknown.

I climbed into the cockpit and turned the avionics on before starting both engines. As the familiar noise of the jets filled my ears, I slipped on my headphones, announcing my callsign (Blizzard 29) then taxiing out onto the runway.

Thirty-five fighters sorted into seven sorties took off from the air base and headed east into the sunrise. A strong tailwind lowered the travel time from three hours to two, and soon we were soaring over the SkyWing palace, circling three times before landing, taxiing over to the furthest hangar, where we would reside for the next six months. Two small barracks had been hastily built next to the hangar, one for the female pilots such as me, and the other for the males.

The hangar was quite large, having enough space to store all of the aircraft comfortably. The barracks were cramped, and the bunks were placed in every available space. However, few of us would actually be sleeping here. Many of the other female pilots were rather flirty and would definitely attempt to land a date with some of our fellow SkyWing allies. I would have to do a bit of that myself trying to find the SkyWing Glacier specified. I didn't really look forward to it, as communicating wasn't really my thing. Being an ace at piloting and listening to the best music in Pyrrhia weren't helpful skills when it came to talking, but I'd treat this as good practice. Never hurts to learn a new skill.

As I unpacked my duffel bag, sure enough a few of the younger pilots snuck out the door, presumably giggling to themselves and daydreaming about who they would sleep with tonight.

 _Professional idiots._

Blasting a Tristam song in my headphones, I sat down on the bunk nearest to the door, opening up my laptop. I'd bought it three months ago, just for traveling. The computers in the Icewing kingdom didn't have fans, as the cool temperature did the job. However, in the SkyWing kingdom, there wasn't the luxury.

Opening my email, I found a surprise from Queen Glacier:

 _United Icewing Funds_

 _Upon request of her Majesty, Queen Glacier, the worth of 15,000 pieces have been transferred to Aurora Australis, effective immediately; Below is the personal message:_

 _More rumors have surfaced, you may have to bribe him as you are not the only one. Here is a small amount, much more can be transferred if need be._

I nearly fell off my bunk when I read "small amount." 15,000 pieces was three times more than what I've spent my entire life, and according to the Queen, there was plenty more. Whoever this "mystery animus dragon" was, they were in high demand. I'd have to start looking sooner than I wished, probably tonight before the exercises started tomorrow.

The map of the Skywing kingdom showed several villages to the South of the palace. While the dragon in question could be living in the palace, I doubted it. With rumors going around of such a power, surely Queen Auburn would know if he was in the palace. Therefore, he was probably hiding somewhere else, hiding from prying eyes, waiting for the highest bidder possibly.

That thought didn't surprise me, as that would be what I'd do too. Logically, it made sense.

I decided to start with the southern parts, near the MudWing delta, as one of the huts there was labeled "animus." Probably a coincidence, but it was the only lead there was. I shut down my laptop and put my things under the bunk. My headphones I left hanging around my neck, where they were 90% of the time if not on my ears.

Stepping outside, I realized how hot it was in the SkyWing kingdom, although coming from an icy environment, any other place felt hot. A strong gust of wind blew dust into my eyes, reminding me of how windy the kingdom was, flying into the training camp had been particularly difficult, requiring quite a bit of concentration in the crosswinds.

Nevertheless, I strolled along the smooth cobblestone, a very different feeling from the powder snow and smooth ice. Surprisingly, it felt harsh.

Only a few vendors were out as it was still early in the morning. It was mostly quiet apart from the wind, a serene elegance? The avenues near the palace were wide and grand, lined with trees. Queen Auburn must be rich, to the point that gold leafing was used for the road names on the traffic lights.

Speaking of which, the streets were rather deserted. Why build such great roads when there's no traffic? Even in the Ice Kingdom, where there were fewer vehicles, there always at least one or two trucks going this way or the other.

The answer rolled by in a minute. Five huge trucks with rumbling diesel engines crawled their way across the road. I looked closer, hoping to see what their cargo was, but then I heard it. Loud boisterous voices sounded from the open backs, and I saw legions of Skywing soldiers, lounging about, obviously drunk. I took a closer look at the drivers, large MudWings with expressionless faces. They looked . . . depressed. Shuddering, I walked faster down the avenue.

One of the trucks passed me by and the boisterous voices stopped. I glanced up and all the Skywing soldiers were looking at me. Well, all of them except a lone Skywing with large wings sitting at the back. He seemed more interested in something in his talons.

Hurrying on, I looked down at my phone, pretending to be texting someone. One of the Skywings whistled loudly and threw a soggy sandwich at me, with a phone number scrawled on a paper tacked on. Sneaking a glance sideways, I saw one of the red dragons motioning wildly.

Hiding my disgust, I turned at the next intersection, leaving the perverted Skywings to their own training and whatever.

Soon I reached the end of the paved road, where a cluster of huts were constructed around a fountain. The rustic neighborhood was rather charming and simple compared to the building around the palace.

I thought about the map that I examined this morning. According to it, the hut with the animus was the one on the left. But there was no hut there. Only a pile of rubble lay and a caution tape prevented me from even exploring it.

 _Wow, that . . . ruins my plans._

I walked up to the caution tape and looked about cautiously. No sign of activity anywhere. I slipped underneath the barrier, and approached the rubble pile. Glancing back, still no sign of activity. I lifted up a large wooden beam, which was charred at the end.

 _Fire?_

The front door was still intact, and there were many talons prints on it, like it was run over by many dragons. Holding back a gasp of revelation, I quickly ran out of the rubble and back into the street. Looking at the sky, there was no one. For a tribe named after a sky, one would think that more of them would fly, but apparently not.

To be honest, it was all a little too strange. The only traffic on the wide avenue were a few trucks full of soldiers? The palace seemed busy enough looking down upon our arrival.

 _No matter._

I leaped into the sky, feeling my wings snap open. For a moment, I glided forward, getting a feel for the thinner air here in the mountains. Then a gust of wind blew my sideways and plastered me against a building. "Furni's Donuts." Absolutely great.

I picked myself up and decided not to attempt flying again. I dropped to all fours and dashed my way to the barracks. Obviously, I wasn't the only one aware of the rumors. The competition was ahead of me, by quite a lot.

When I finally got back to my bunk, it was already 10AM, and a small note was taped to the sheets. A request by Queen Auburn to meet in the dining hall. It was probably a royal thing or whatever, and it would definitely take up valuable time I could be using to search. I really didn't want to go. It'd be rude to refuse though.

The Skywing dining hall was about the size of the main hall in Queen Glacier's palace. Immense, and very tall, the ceiling open to the sky for reasons unknown. (Does it rain in the Sky Kingdom?)

Queen Auburn had quiet classical music playing from hidden speakers. The breakfast was already on the table, classic scrambled eggs, ham and hash browns. Nothing too fancy, but delicious nonetheless. I didn't even know my stomach was grumbling until I saw the food. Thinking about it, I didn't know cooked food tasted so wonderful.

Auburn was quite a talker, elaborating on details that nobody cared to listen to but everyone pretended to pay attention anyways. She wasn't a big dragon, certainly not larger than me. Even so, all the Skywings obeyed her instantly and without question. She must hold a lot of power in her tribe.

It was well past noon before she stopped talking and dismissed us. I headed out of the hall, finding my way to the barracks. Clearly the animus dragon wasn't in the southern parts anymore, and about twenty dragons were on the lookout.

 _If I were the animus dragon, where would I hide? In the palace? Probably not, I need to be surrounded, and nobody can know my true identity, but where would I blend in? I'd still need a way to access other dragons, but I can't be too conspicuous. Best if I can also go around the kingdom seeing rich dragons like… oh._

A slim chance perhaps, but I tried to remember the number on that soggy sandwich. The Skywing who threw it was probably just an idiot, but the only lead I had counted on two pieces of bread and turkey slices. I took out my phone and called.

"Hmmm yes… who's getting lucky today huh?"

 _Ugh, disgusting._ "Hello?"

"Yes, I assure I'm here for real. What's your sign hm?"

 _Got one try._ "Uh, are you … that Skywing soldier who threw a soggy sandwich at me?"

"Ha! I thought it was perfectly edible! So, you must be that pretty Icewing this morning? I must say, you're much more beautiful than all these other dragons trying to ask me out."

 _Bingo, maybe._

"Are you available?"

"Woah, that fast? Of course, I will wait for you on a café, it's near your barracks. I doubt we'll stay there for long though."

I buried my phone under the sheets and went over to the wall, slamming my head into it. _Why did Glacier get_ me _to do this?_

The café turned out to be a very nice and quiet corner shop. I sat there waiting for this mystery dragon. The barista assumed that and left me alone. That or the fact that all my spikes were sticking out straight, due to my frustration. It would make it really insufferable if that dragon kept up that attitude. I'd be tempted to stuff a soggy sandwich in his ears.

The barista, who'd kept quiet until now, ambled over to my table. I glared at him, daring him to say something. The Skywing took off his apron and hat. "Recognize me?"

It was the Skywing who'd thrown the soggy sandwich at me. "Now I assume you're here to … ask about my services?"

"What services?"

"Don't play dumb, I've been chased all over the city and finally found protection in Queen Auburn's army, although looking at you right now, it'd seem it's not enough." He lifted an eyebrow.

"Fine, I'm here for your "services."" _No use trying to hide._

"Indeed," he plopped his body down on the seat across from me, "what is your bid?"

"Bid?"

"Of course, I've got offers of several thousand pieces from high ranking officials, it seems many dragons want to have animus children. I assume this is for yourself? Perhaps a power grab in the Ice kingdom?"

"NO!" I stood up and yelled at him. "I'm not some greedy politician looking for ways to cheat the system and put myself at the top! I'm not a dirty scoundrel!"

The Skywing looked genuinely afraid. "All right, calm down."

I sat down, but kept my glare.

"Then who _are_ you doing this for, if not yourself?"

"Classified Icewing Official business."

"For sure! Now… your offer?"

"15,000 credits."

The Skywing whistled. "It's a done deal, when do you want to do it?"

"Wait, I need to clarify a few things. One, will you stay around to raise your children with me? Also, how are you sure that if you have eggs with me, they'll be animus?"

"Well, ma'am, I'm not really interested in having a family; other words, I'm afraid you'll have to raise the children yourself, which you'll probably do anyways since it's "Official Icewing business." As for the second question, I assure you they will be animus, however, I cannot disclose the secret. Let's just say I have a … limited animus power myself. Any other questions?"

The truth slapped me in the snout like a fish. This dragon was only in it for the money. _I shouldn't be so surprised, after all, 15,000 pieces is a lot of money, but it can't buy a proper parent like love can. It just hurts that dragons can be so … selfish._

"Uh, do I have to decide now?"

"Of course not, you are my current highest bidder. Call me whenever you're ready. I don't want to rush you into this. Parenting can be stressful you know?" The Skywing went back to the counter and into the kitchen area, leaving me sitting alone once again.

 _Gosh darn it that Skywing is so retarded. I'm not going to mate with him no matter… but I have to, don't I? Queen Glacier asked me to, and I don't disobey her, do I? I wonder who she'll find as a mate for me? There's nobody suitable, only a few really young and a few really old ones. Damn, this world isn't kind to me._

Back at the barracks, I sat on my bunk, listening to glitch hop, trying to drown my worries in the wubs.

Nobody around my age is unmarried or betrothed, leaving me as the odd one out. _Fire in the hole._

I wish somebody could help me. _Hero._

Too many expectations, the Icewing kingdom was a really demanding place to live. Everyone wanting so much of me. _Surrender._

Everything had to be exact and precise. All of Glacier's orders were followed down to the last period, comma and exclamation mark. _Razor Sharp._

I feel so out of touch with everyone and everything. I've been living d _isconnected_ for too long.

As my phone ran out of battery, and sadly, my music stopped playing, I plugged in my phone, and decided to bunk it for the night. As I looked around the room, not a single duffel bag except mine remained, and not another soul was in sight.

 _Even the other younger Icewing soldiers found dates and are probably off somewhere, in some Skywing or Icewing soldier's bed, sleeping tight for the night. Ugh, oh well, at least there's no snoring._

The lack of sounds unnerved me during the night. It didn't feel right to not be sleeping next to my fellow soldiers, and even weirder to know that they were happy and I was sad. I felt left out, something I rarely experienced, being a top ranking Icewing. Normally it was other dragons who were left out as I filled their place in some assignments. I'd never felt remorseful for taking other dragon's place; it was business after all, one did not argue with Queen Glacier's wishes before flattening Jade Mountain. But I'd never felt lonely like this until now. All I really wanted was somebody to love me, but who am I kidding? I'm just some old and mature soldier who didn't have feelings, and wasn't flirty or romantic or whatever. I could be, but nobody ever taught me that. "Training" and "bettering" or oneself didn't include those sappy aspects.

I steeled myself against the solitude, trying to convince myself to embrace it as a sign of strength and discipline.

Whether or not it was because I didn't have the harsh cold ice surrounding me or the approving nod of Narwhal examining the ranks of soldiers, I couldn't bring myself to freeze my emotions like I should have. Instead I just sighed and turned on my laptop, plugging my headphones in there instead. I found my favorite Monstercat album and just listened the rest of the night away with heavy bass, referencing the heavy emotions in my mind.

The morning felt just as bad as the evening. The music had done little to help me satisfy my wants, which was strange. Music, especially drum and bass always lifted my spirits. Maybe the music wasn't heavy enough, perhaps I needed to try something else. None of the other Icewings were back yet, (and probably wouldn't want to be) so I unplugged my headphones and let the music play out into the barracks. Maybe that would help.

/*If anyone knows which producer I referenced for le first chapter, that is absolutely incredible. Also first story, please review thanks.*/


	2. Chapter 002

Music is a strange thing, isn't it? One could call a simple beat and some talking a song, or they could be long complex intricate melodies and harmonies woven by heart and soul into something more ethereal than words. Or possibly I'm rambling on here because I'm absolutely gutted.

I've never felt gutted before, or at least not truly. Training in the Ice kingdom is hard, definitely pushing dragons to their limits, but there was always music that I could listen to in order to feel better. I've never listened to music without headphones before though. Now, letting the sound just pour into the room felt weird.

I heard a knock at the door and I paused my music. It was probably the Icewing girls from yesterday, grabbing their gear for the exercise today. Opening the door, I came face to face with a particularly tall Icewing, who snarled in my face. "What kind of trash were you playing?"

That flamed my attitude. "Better than that crap y'all listen to these days!"

"Hey. . ., wait a second. Aren't you the one girl who didn't get a date? It IS! Look soldiers, she has the nerve to trash talk me but can't even impress anyone!" The Icewing turned back to me and grinned devilishly. "What's your problem? Too ugly? Go on, challenge me!"

As much as I wanted to mash her face into the nearest wall, she had a good point. Besides, a high rank does not offer immunity to punishment for assault on another soldier. Sighing, I turned my back to them and went down to lie on my bunk.

By the time I got up again, all of the other soldiers were gone. I rolled myself onto the floor and agonizingly, prepared for the exercises.

While the actual training went by quickly, Queen Auburn invited us to dinner, which was no less boring than the lunch yesterday. Dragging myself back to the barracks, it was astonishing that the Skywing Queen had so many dull topics to have a one-sided discussion about. Sleep would be sweet tonight, as I no longer had the energy to fight it. When I entered the barracks, at least ten heads turned to face me.

"B-but why are you all here?"

The Icewing who had made fun of me this morning replied solemnly. "One of the Skywing squadrons was sent to the outposts for a week. Stupid SeaWings getting restless, forcing us to crash in here with _you_."

I gave no comment to the tone of the last word, but I laid down on my bunk, trying to get a grip on the situation. _Never mind their plight, I still haven't done what Glacier told…._ The thought faded as my head hit the sheets.

"Which one of you is the one that played the hard style this morning?"

"It wasn't hard style, it's hard dance," I answered involuntarily without opening my eyes, not expecting much of a response.

"Of course, _Hero_ I believe."

I immediately sat up and subsequently knocked my head on the top bunk. Rubbing my skull, I stepped out awkwardly from the bed to see _him._ He looked almost the same, albeit with a slightly darker orange. I stared at the Skywing, who turned around and started walking away. "You should follow me, you know?"

I scrambled around for my phone and quickly exited the barracks, not before sneaking a quick glance back at the other soldiers, who's faces clearly told envy.

Feeling gleeful l half skipped my way next to the Skywing, who looked at me strange. "You seem a bit excited."

"I can't deny that, nobody has ever recognized any of the songs I listen to."

"Then those dragons haven't listened to real music, eh?"

"How'd you know?"

"A hunch and something you will be very excited about."

The Skywing barracks were much larger than the Icewing ones, and much shinier. Apparently Queen Auburn didn't value her guests very much. The inside wasn't too different, except there were more bunks and several closets and living rooms. It was also less populated. At least half the bunks were empty, and the remaining Skywings looked at me with queer countenances.

"They're the older ones, the bachelors such as myself. Don't pay them attention, it's not every day that they get to see a beauty walk through here."

"Noted… wait beauty?"

"I'd be quite the fool to deny reality. Rumors circulate that Prince Vermillion is interested in you, but Queen Auburn does keep an iron grip on her children's activities, and her subordinates for that matter. Let's not talk about the Skywing dictator however, as," he opened one of the closets on the far side of the hallway, "you might recognize this setup."

 _No way._ "Is that a turntable, and a launchpad? You're a live DJ?"

"No, I find it astronomically impossible to find anyone who even remotely enjoys listening to EDM. Although, perhaps I should change that to almost astronomically impossible. However, the lack of an audience does not dissuade me from practicing."

"Ok wait, why do you look a lot like this other Skywing?"

"Large, red, and grumpy looking?"

"No! I mean, ok what's your name?"

"Stream."

"Can I trust you with confidential Icewing business? My name is Aurora, but just call me Australis."

"You decide, otherwise I'm just giving you a generic answer that is boring and irrelevant."

 _Queer_. "Do you know the rumors of this Skywing that can have guaranteed animus children?"

"Rumors aren't really rumors until everyone knows about it secretly. Yes, I do know. That dragon is my cousin. Or something like that, I'm not entirely enlightened on the whole situation. You gave that 15,000 pieces bid, didn't you? He's rather exulted about it."

"Um, is he lying about the animus offspring part though?"

"No, he's being entirely truthful about that, but that might be something he forbad me to say otherwise. It's all very foggy, hence why I like listening to heavy music, it helps clear that fog, for a little while at least."

"What do you mean forbad?"

"Can't say, won't tell, but I can tell you're interested as to why all your Icewing friends' 'love of their life' got sent away, whereas I'm still here. It's not the SeaWings, but there is construction going on outside the palace, supposedly new watchtowers. I'm a little old myself, don't have the punch of those new kids. Heck, even the aircraft I fly is an old bomber, a Tu-160 to be precise."

"Do you have mind reading?"

"Of course not, but expression reading is something I learned to be quite useful, and most dragons are easy to predict, not saying that you are, I'm just slotting you into a category that makes sense to me so I don't encounter surprises, especially of the devastating kind."

 _He talks like a well-rehearsed script, but not a good actor._

"That's … great. Does your launchpad work?"

"Ah, changing the conversation. Do I talk weird to you? I don't have too much experience trying to hold a normal talk with someone. Sorry if I seem bland, it's probably just too much dubstep. Anyways, I take very good care of my equipment. I can do a demonstration if you'd like as not too many other soldiers are around. The old ones don't mind as long as it's not too loud. In my opinion though, everyone could do with a few wubs and a bit of bass every now and then to stir up the spirit. Partying in respectable amounts never hurts."

Stream moved his talons across the board, and suddenly, the eight by eight grid lit up with a show of royal blue and red. "I think you already know this song, but _here it comes_."

I'm not sure what time Stream ended the little performance, but it felt like a sharp knife cutting into me, an abrupt ending. Maybe I'm addicted to that kind of music.

"Bed time? You don't have an exercise tomorrow, but it still feels wonderful to have a good night's sleep. Best prepare yourself and be a _superstar_ when you wake up."

"Of course! It's just, I feel lonely when I sleep alone, do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?"

"I do not mind. Aren't you going to mate with my cousin though? Maybe you should go find Gyr instead. His bed is much larger than mine. Warmer, too."

"NO! Err, I'm tired and I'd like to sleep now."

The Skywing shrugged and went over to his bunk. "Here, you can sleep on the bunk, I'll just sleep on the ground…"

 _This is awkward._ "Maybe we could, um, share the bunk? Uh, only if you want to though." _Err._ "Don't feel like I'm forcing you to do anything."

"Of course not, I don't mind sleeping with you if it's alright with you. If it really makes you feel better, then go ahead."

 _What am I even doing? I think this mission Glacier gave me is making me ditsy. Well, bring the madness…_

I woke up to a shrill voice. Stream hadn't moved at all, his chest still rising and lowering slowly. I had slept curled up on top of him, a move I made while pretending to sleep, he didn't react. Opening my left eye a tiny sliver, I could barely make out a rust colored Skywing standing by Stream's head, who was listening to something he was talking about.

"Her name is "Australis," and yes, she's one of the Icewings training here."

"Is she your new girlfriend?"

"Have no idea."

"Why is she sleeping on your chest?"

"No idea, I won't wake the lady up though, as that's cruel and mean."

"Sol you _do_ like her!"

"Kestrel, you just have to make everything into drama. Please learn that just because two dragons sleep in the same bed doesn't mean they are going to get married. It definitely won't hurt you if you just acted a bit more depressed. Probably make you a better fighter if you focused."

"Well, that's nice talking… but band today?"

"Sure, why not, hmmm, maybe I'll bring along my "girlfriend" (air quotes) for all of you to admire and make fun of me. It's not like Australis and I don't have feelings too."

"Oh, come on, don't be a party pooper, get up! We're rehearsing the new song today!"

Stream grumbled something under his breath, then turned to look at me. "Australis? You awake? Ready to conquer the day? Also help me keep this bag of overexcited fluff from causing too much trouble?"

I got up off his chest (sadly), but Kestrel didn't give any warning before grabbing my talon and dragging me off the bed. She took a few intense glances over my body, particularly looking at my rigid claws and the my neck spikes. "You look strong, but your ears are really flat." Kestrel sidled up to my side and whispered in my ear. "How'd you impress Stream? You're gorgeous, but I know he isn't into beauty much. What'd you do to make him let you sleep with him? He acts strange around you, have you noticed?"

"Um, I don't know."

"All right, Kestrel, move aside, give her some space." Stream poked Kestrel's snout and she quickly retreated, but not before mouthing 'he's absolutely mad for you.'

"Ok, Australis, do you want to see the band? I'm extremely sorry about Kestrel's strange behavior. She seems to be happy for some weird reason that nobody knows and nobody cares."

Kestrel snorted. "I just got promoted."

"Hahaha, good for you, now let's go before that irritating attitude spreads to us all."

We ended up flying to an open clearing, across a lake from a magnificent waterfall. Stream and Kestrel had both brought bags full of equipment. While they were setting up, I found the waterfall a little suspicious. The space behind it looked hollow. Climbing a narrow path up the side of the cliff, I poked my claw through the water. I reached until almost falling off, but I still couldn't feel anything.

 _Be careful, don't risk it. It might just be that the waterfall is really thick and there is a rock wall behind. Don't jump._

Ah whatever, fleeting thoughts. I leaped into the waterfall, expecting a hidden cave or something. _How romantic would it be to find a secret hidden cave, secluded from the –_ thunk! There was no cave. My head smashed on solid rock, the feeling of a thousand hammers striking reverberating throughout my skull. I fell with the water, down to the lake, my wings flailing but failing to catch any air. One of rocks down in the lake poked one of my wings, and I nearly passed out in the pain. Struggling to get out of the water, I grasped one of the rocks, grazing my palm, but pulling myself forward. One of my hind feet caught on a rock and I was suddenly pulled back under.

After about three minutes of painful wriggling, I finally broke the surface, gulping in fresh breaths of heaven. The lake shore was only about ten feet away, it was pretty narrow. Paddling over to it, my right wing dragged along, making progress slow. However, after a moment or two, I climbed out of the water onto a little stretch of sand, where I rested for about ten minutes, glaring at the waterfall which had caused me so much pain. The shadow was still there, annoyingly. Maybe I'm crazy.

I dragged myself slowly back to where Stream and Kestrel had finished setting up. Kestrel had a guitar and was tuning it when she saw me walking over.

"Oh dear, your wing has a humongous hole in it! What did you do? Hey Stream, your girlfriend is hurt!"

"Kestrel, for the last damn time I'm going to imprint this in your brain with a burning- oh." Stream put down a speaker and gave me a shoulder to lean on. "What _did_ you do?"

"Well, I jumped into a waterfall."

"Why?"

"Well, can I show you? It's not easy to explain."

Stream nodded. "Hey Kestrel, Australis has something interesting to show us, just leave the equipment here. It won't go anywhere."

I led Kestrel and Stream down to the waterfall, where I pointed at a dark irregular shape hidden behind the rushing water. "Doesn't it look like there's a cave back there?"

"Yes…? You tried to get inside the cave but you hit solid rock?"

I felt my cheeks blush. "Uh, yes. I wasn't thinking very well."

"Well, I'll give it a try." Stream climbed up the same narrow path, and poked the waterfall. However, then, he poked his head through. After a few hesitant moments, he climbed forward and disappeared, his red tail swallowed up by the water stream. "There is a cave, the entrance is just lower than you'd expect. Walk in, don't jump."

I looked at Kestrel, and she shrugged. "You go first," she said.

Steeling myself, I made my way up the path and poked my head into the waterfall. The cool water washed over my head, reminding of the ejection practices back when I first joined the air force. The Commander had us all sit in little seats next to the ocean.

One by one we were launched into the freezing water, although, being Icewings, we didn't really care. In particular, I enjoyed swimming in the water paths that the icebreakers left behind them, smooth patches of calm water. The Icewing harbor was relatively devoid of currents except for a region of deep water with a strong current that everyone avoided. However, once Glacier ordered the expansion of the navy fleet, there were too many ships in the ice breaker passages that swimming was deemed illegal. Of course, not to the benefit of dragons who liked swimming, but to prevent damages to the shiny new ships added to the fleet.

"Australis, are you going to get in the cave?" I felt a tap on my tail, and I realized Kestrel was standing right behind me, waiting. "Quickly, I scanned for the opening, before walking in to find that Stream was waiting patiently.

Sunlight filtered in from an unknown source, but moss covered the cave walls and the roof, probably from the presence of water condensing on the ceiling. As I made my way deeper into the cave, I realized the light came from an opening on the opposite side of the cave.

"It's not a cave, but a tunnel, wide enough for several dragons to walk through side by side," Stream waved his talon at the light, "the palace is in that direction."

Kestrel came up behind us, sputtering and shaking the water from her snout. "I hate getting wet, it makes me feel slimy and gross."

Stream laughed. "Well, now I know something I can annoy you with, thank goodness at least you hate somethings. Anyways, let's go down this tunnel, we're inside one of the mountains right next to the palace. This place really intrigues me, especially if the other side opens to the palace." Saying so, he strolled forward blandly, leaving me and Kestrel to follow.

The tunnel turned out to be quite a bit shorter than I thought it would be. Near the end, it started to get wider and a few rocks were littered around the sides. I picked up one of the rocks because it had a little red shine on one side. Turning it around, a ruby sparkled at me. While trying to pick it out, I thought about gems in the Ice kingdom. We had bad luck with finding any jewelry of any kind. We didn't have fire to blast away softer rock, and all the rivers were frozen, so Glacier made do with a few trinkets here and there. The crown held only five quartz gemstones, carved delicately from the largest stones ever found, guarded by guards loyal to the royal family.

In contrast, the Skywing palace held a plethora of riches on display. Queen Auburn's crown, which she wore all the times I've seen her, was made out of solid gold and held rubies, garnets, and diamonds of all kinds. And they were all humongous, even compared to the quartz crystals on the Icewing crown.

 _Gosh darn it, what's the loud buzzing sound coming from? It's getting really-_

Stream held up with wing and pushed me back, bumping into Kestrel, who started complaining.

"SHUT IT," Stream hissed at the smaller Skywing, who immediately shut up. "Australis, can I see that rock you're holding?"

I passed the rock to him. "It has a ruby in it."

The wide winged Skywing stomped his foot in frustration. "No wonder. This is the mines, which means we're trespassing, and technically stealing." He chucked the stone down the tunnel. "Queen Auburn is really weak, but vain as hell. I don't know if any of the Skywings heard us, but we need to leave now, and quietly."

 _That doesn't make sense._ "Wait, if there's so much machinery going on outside, how can they hear us?"

Stream whispered while he plodded quietly on the stone floor. "There's sound sensors outside the mine, they're meant to detect intruders. Auburn doesn't want a single dragon stealing a single ruby." He stopped and froze, his ears swiveling around. "Oh dear, the machinery has stopped. We'd better hurry." The Skywing picked up his pace, while Kestrel and I followed right behind him. "Hey Kestrel, when we get back, quickly pack our stuff, we can't leave any traces here."

When Stream and Kestrel reached the exit, they both spread their wings and flew with haste to the place where they had planned to practice. When I climbed through the waterfall, I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey pretty lady, where are you going?"

 _We were being followed all along, I can't let them notice Stream and Kestrel, they're still packing up._ I shot out of the waterfall and half glided half wobbled on my injured wing to a grove of trees. I heard fourteen thumps behind me, and I turned around to find a squadron of Skywings, all hissing smoke through their nostrils. A small male in front stepped forward. "Pretty lady, don't you think you should stay with us instead? We can give you all the riches the mountains hold."

I gulped nervously and stared at all the dragons in front of me. Most of them had dust covering their snouts. _They must be the miners_.

"Welp, Burgundy, shouldn't you be on the other side of the mountain? I thought you were in charge of the mining, ever since Starling's 'accident.'" Stream landed beside me and spread his wings to their full width, almost twice as long as my own wingspan, even though he didn't stand any taller than me.

The lead Skywing, Burgundy, laughed. "Starling? That was quite the unfortunate accident, clearly the work of a fool. Sadly, nobody will remember such an ordinary, boring ole fellow. That being said, you got yourself a girlfriend! Clearly, you've been a _bad boi_. Tell me, have you tried anything yet?"

Steam growled aggressively, causing a few of Skywings to rustle their wings nervously. "You're a corrupt idiot, and your minds has been poisoned with ambition. You're even greedier than Auburn, and that's saying a lot!"

"What about my mother?" All the dragons, including me, whirled our heads around to see a small Skywing alight on the sand. "Oh, by the way, say hi to your new Queen! I'm _Queen_ Scarlet now! Has a nice ring, doesn't it?" She looked us all with interest. "Aw, don't be nervous, carry on your accusations! This is really thrilling, I have to make you two special guests for uncovering such a corrupt power-hungry thief!"

Stream turned back around to face Burgundy, who looked scared now. "Well, _try this._ " He lifted his left talons and swiped it across Burgundy's snout. "Better run now, there's no place here left for you." The smaller Skywing gulped and nodded vigorously before hind tailing it out of the lake area. A few of the other Skywings turned and followed, but nine stayed. Once their tails were out of site, everyone turned around to face Queen Scarlet again, who chuckled and walked among the remaining dragons.

"You all look like fine strong soldiers. How would you like to be part of my new breeding initiative? Don't say no. It'd be extremely not thrilling to have nobody show up!" The Skywing Queen lifted off and flew back toward the palace.

The remaining Skywings who had arrived with Burgundy muttered among themselves before launching themselves toward the palace as well. Kestrel landed just as the last one had left, carrying he rest of the equipment. "Wow, where are those handsome fellows going?"

Stream didn't answer, but lifted his bag and took off after them; Kestrel and I followed.

The sun was setting by the time I arrived back at my own barracks. Stream had asked if I wanted to stay the night with him, but I'd replied he'd probably get a better night's sleep if he didn't have a fat Icewing squashing him. Truly, I did like him, he stood up for me not because he thought he could get something from me, but because his moral beliefs told him to. Does that mean I love him though? Enough to stay with him for the rest of my life?

I stood outside the barracks door, watching the sun slowly go behind the horizon. The _pink cloud_ s streaked across the sky, a reminder of the blood that dripped from Burgundy's face after Stream clawed him.

 _Now that Queen Auburn's been killed, I wonder what Scarlet plans to do with us Icewings. What's that breeding program that she mentioned? Will she uphold the agreement her mother held with Queen Glacier?_

 _/_ If anyone knows the producer(s) I referenced in this chapter, that is absolutely incredible too. I like donuts by the way, review?


	3. Chapter 003

Turns out Scarlet, excuse me, _Queen_ Scarlet wasn't too different from her mother. She was rather vain, keeping all of the gold decorations and the crown filled with jewels. Really, not much was different. Scheduled exercises went on as normal, albeit with a different SkyWing squadron as the watchtowers were still under construction, not that my IceWing compadres knew. As far as they were concerned, the damn SeaWings were still acting unruly, and that their crushes wouldn't be back for another week or so.

It'd be fine time to mention that Gyr, the SkyWing that Glacier sent me to find, was still trying to get my attention, even though he was loathed by myself in many ways. For someone with supposed animus bloodline powers, he was awful at flirting, and with dealing with real dragons. Strangely, Stream always seemed to follow Gyr's instructions without complaint, which I assumed that Stream must owe Gyr a lot of favors.

Even though I rejected him every single time he asked, it didn't discourage him from trying to win my devotion, or at least body for a night. Saying _don't push me_ didn't help either. I believe he's deaf when it comes to what I want. Can't believe Glacier wanted me to mate with this guy.

Scarlet didn't invite the IceWings to dinner however, a relief to me. I did notice an influx of soldiers training, with at least two squadrons in the air at all times. While some of my fellow soldiers complained about the constant droning of plane engines overhead, citing lack of sleep, with headphones, I could barely hear a thing.

Gyr, mysteriously never seemed to take part in his squadron's exercises, which led to constant bothering if ever I went to see Stream. More often now, Stream came over with his gear, passing the time faster with a much more enjoyable activity than clearing email spam. Slowly I could see a future with me by his side, but I'd have to keep it to myself, he was just a friend who visited everyday because we had similar interests. It drove all of the other female IceWings incredibly crazy though.

Queen Glacier hadn't responded to any of my emails inquiring our situation, but I'm sure she had heard about the news and was currently devising a plan. She was a prudent Queen, and she didn't need someone like me to tell her. The whole SkyWing monarchy takeover happened so unexpectedly, and with a relatively young dragon on the throne, all the other queens took caution when it came to approaching Scarlet. Who knew what kind of monarch she would be? Also, Glacier might pressure me to give myself in to Gyr anyways, and even though I wouldn't disobey her, I would probably have to drug myself to tolerate him at all

I'd say the real noticeable changes started two months after Scarlet rose to power. Court systems, a staple of old crusty textbooks, were quickly reinstated by Scarlet, with none other than her being the main judge, rather, attorney?

Bering, an IceWing distantly related to me through some bloodline was the first one to experience the new "prisons." High up in the sky, these stone platforms stood on stone pillars, and while Bering tried to hide his horror, it was pretty obvious nobody wanted to have a visit, especially bound with chains, as Scarlet explained with much delight.

All that faded to the back of my memory though, as Stream explained to me that he would be sent on a diplomatic mission to the SeaWings. He wrapped me in the warmest wings, and whispered in my ear, "Australis, it will only be a month, and when I return," he brought his talons onto mine, "I wish to marry you." My heart beat in its cage, and I peered closely at his eyes. We stared for a moment before he lightly brushed a jewel into my talons, and rose from the bench. "I'd better get going dear, I leave tomorrow."

It was two days before Stream would return that I was rushing around searching desperately for the jewel. _How clumsy I am! What will Stream think of me now?_ Bering had requested to see the jewel after he saw me inspecting it closely, but now it was missing. Gyr stayed silent over these few weeks, but I could feel his presence, inspecting me. Aforementioned dragon was never more than ten meters away, never to be seen however, and his intentions unknown.

There were plenty of other things to prepare however, so I tried to shift my mind off of the jewel, I'm sure Stream would understand. I had no idea how Stream wanted to marry me, and why he would, I would say I'm only mediocre at best, and he was a valiant knight, but miracles do happen, just not often.

I had enlisted Kestrel to help me out, and she seemed a bit too eager, owing to her young age I presume. Her face had lit up like the aurora during the dark cold months in the Ice kingdom, _sorry_ , like the hot flames from the SkyWings' mouth that burst forth on too many unnecessary occasions.

The two days flew by when I was busy trying to cobble together the legal papers and boring stuff like that, but the clock slowed to a halt whenever I worried about the jewel. It was deep blue, like the deep ocean, probably sapphire, beautifully carved into a marquise, and unblemished on the surface, although the center was a bit cloudy. Not the highest quality by renowned expert type, but I could appreciate it as a sentimental gift.

The day came by way too soon, as is all things in life. You live on the comfortable side, knowing you're prepared, but of course something always throws you off. It stabbed me in the heart to lose the jewel, but Stream was tolerant. I think.

Anyways, I was lying on my bunk in the IceWing quarters rocking out to Rock the Flock, when the door creaked open, and out stepped a handsome creature. I could still tell the dragon underneath, but from his camo vest, to the bright red gun sticking out of the holster strapped to its side, as well as a smart suit he wore underneath, he might as well had been perfect. Once he walked across the room, took off his gloves and sat next to me on the bunk, and before I could speak anything, wrapped his wings around me.

"Dear, you are more impressively beautiful when I get to see you after a while."

I thanked him for his compliment by hugging him back, and we sat there in silence, embracing each other, but eventually my curiosity pushed me to inspect the bright red gun he had been carrying. Stream noticed me staring, and quickly pulled the little gun out of his holster, holding it up for me to view.

"SkyWing officers are typically equipped with pistols, we can't carry huge guns because there isn't room for it. Me, though, I can't aim at all, so I got myself a MP5K. 9mm sub machine gun, looks cool in red don't it?" He slid the gun back into the holster and turned his attention to me. "Enough about me, please, is there anything new?"

I couldn't help but imagine Stream using the gun, mowing down innocent dragons- I quickly rubbed the image out of my mind. Guns were for personal defense, not for assault. Quickly changing the topic, I nuzzled the SkyWing's snout. "I, lost the jewel. I have no idea where it is."

Stream only laughed. "Don't worry about it, jewels aren't practical. I just thought it was a nice touch that perhaps you would appreciate." He pulled me in close and pushed my snout up against his neck. "Happiness doesn't always come without strings attached, but this time, I feel like I've managed to remove all the strings. I've never been more alive than I've ever been seeing you. We don't need a stupid jewel to ruin it do we?" He pulled me closer, with his smooth scales brushing against mine. "Yes indeed, dear, I have taken note of the preparations you and Kestrel have done." He shuffled awkwardly a bit. "We will have to hold the wedding secretly though. I can't have Scarlet discovering us."

I had never seen him this … unsteady.

"Scarlet implemented this new program, a," Stream faltered, "breeding program. She wants all of the military dragons to … sign up, and … produce offspring. Oh, and intertribal marriages are prohibited now.

"What happens if we're caught?"

"Let's just not let them find out, yeah?"

I looked around the bunk, but there wasn't anyone listening in. I still wasn't convinced defying Scarlet was a great idea, but could he convince me to go against orders?

Stream leaned closer. "This will be our secret, Australis."

He had already melted my heart, and poured it into him. "It'll be our secret then." And he pulled my snout back into his, and molded my love to which I would be stuck to him forever. It felt wonderful, and serene, like floating chunks of icebergs on the shores near the palace.

After he had left for the evening, probably to finalize arrangements, I checked my email again. The newest one from Glacier had been from a day ago, the day before Stream had returned.

My loyal subject,

Queen Oasis is dead, and each of her three daughters wants the crown. I've already made an alliance with Blaze, who will give us a lot of territory in the Sand kingdom once we win. I need you to attempt to get the SkyWings on our side as well. We have a diplomatic escort in the works, but they won't be there for a week. We need Queen Auburn on our side.

Glacier

So, the IceWings didn't know about Scarlet, yet. I made myself a promise that I would do what she told me as soon Stream and I were joined together in eternal love. It probably didn't make a difference, Scarlet wouldn't be stupid enough to refuse an alliance with a tribe of elite fighting dragons. That would be unreasonable.

It'd be another two days before he would marry me, and when he showed up at the bunk to collect me, and he looked smart, his scales were polished and clean, and his vests looked surprisingly elegant. He wrapped his wing around mine as we strolled along the moonlight street. "Kestrel already has everything moved to the forest location, we're going back to that meadow I showed you. I got another friend to come attend."

The meadow still reeked of the day he and Kestrel had shown off their musical vision. It also reminded me of the day Scarlet took over the Sky kingdom.

The decorations were fairly minimal, but I always thought Stream wasn't fancy anyways. There was Kestrel, but also Gyr. I had almost forgotten about Gyr, and Queen Glacier's orders echoed around my mind like an incessant droning, but I didn't care, but nothing could prevent me from giving my all to the one dragon who actually cared about me. Being cared about is like a warm fuzzy warmth, and it makes your talons all shaky and your voice giddy.

A flash of silver scales revealed two more IceWings, Bering, but also the IceWing who had taunted me about not having a date. _How about that._ I couldn't resist myself but to stare. The IceWing caught my staring, and glared right back. "Just here because Gyr told me there would be some sweets here." _There sure are sweets here._ I made my way back to Stream, who was pouring wine into some tall glasses. He noticed me and put his wide wing around me. "Rose wine, it fits the mood very well don't you agree?"

In due time, he had passed out glasses of the wine to all of the six dragons present, and it was time for us to take our vows to each other. Kestrel had a podium set up for the two of us, and a mildly interested Bering, a jealous female IceWing, and a suspicious SkyWing were lined up in a blob in front.

Stream had taken out his weapon, and put it on the podium. He locked my gaze, and drew an identical MP5K, but this one in deep blue, adorned with metal furnishings on the end that looked like frost breath. A beautiful work of art, but my talons shuddered when I touched the cool metal, thinking of how guns could kill. Luckily, Kestrel began muttering a few random phrases, blah blah blah, before she skipped forward and held both of our talons together. I held my breath and looked deep into Stream's deep eyes, dreamy starred and full of possibilities. His equally deep gaze into my eyes reminded me of how he pools in the IceWing kingdom were full of endless reflections, and their surface were always perfectly still, of course, unless you disturbed the surface of the water. I liked to call them mirrors of the soul, and damn they were beautiful.

"MIGHTY INTERESTING!" A loud thunderous voice bounced off the forest trees surrounding the meadow. "WHAT DO WE HAVE IN THIS CORNER? WELL AUDIENCE, HERE'S A SKYWING, BY THE NAME OF STREAM, AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, WE HAVE ONE OF OUR FELLOW ICEWINGS, AND WE SEEM TO HAVE INTERRUPTED THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR WEDDINGS. YES FELLOW SKYWINGS, THESE TWO WERE GETTIING MARRIED, AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE DECENCY TO INVITE OUR WONDROUS QUEEN SCARLET, SO OFFENSIVE!"

A bright red SkyWing that looked too awfully like Scarlet stepped out of the shadows, and bowed. A second later, the dragon in question appeared. Scarlet wore a gold chainmail shirt, and even though she was smiling, she conveyed poison with every step. She brushed her talon over ours, and sighed. "Stream dear, don't you know that mating with other tribes is strictly forbidden as of now? Future Queen Burn just doesn't approve of it you see." She raised her shoulders in a shrug. "I can't fault with her thinking, It's quite reasonable really."

Stream didn't say anything, but I blurted out in outrage. "What does marrying have to do with mating? For all you know, just because a pair of dragons marry, doesn't mean they have dragonets!"

Scarlet laughed shrilly. "Excuses for sure, round them up. We don't need traitors like these two. This SkyWing soldier, he didn't escape my notice when he tried to leave early at the breeding program opening ceremony." She strolled away into the clearing. Her harsh words pierced the night sky, and the stars above were already falling upon me.

Stream shot forward suddenly, and had his MP5K aimed at Scarlet's skull before I had scarcely recovered from her words. Kestrel followed in suit grabbing two pistols from under her wings, and she whipped herself around and the bright red SkyWing who had announced Scarlet's arrived froze.

Scarlet had stood still as well, as she had heard Stream turn off the safety on his gun. "I'm not going anywhere," and she slowly turned around, her talons raised.

Stream's face was livid. "You _bitch_! I don't care about any of your hate of other tribes. Why can't you just leave dragons alone?! I heard your plans for the IceWings, I know how you feel, and I can't tolerate any more of your bullshit!" He gritted his teeth, and pulled the trigger.

I half expected Scarlet to die, but of course she didn't, because Vermillion threw him on the ground, and Kestrel was grappling with two more guards. My MP5K was still on the podium, and I grabbed it, and fired blindly at the flashing red scales, hoping I would hit Scarlet. Large wings pulled me to the ground and tied me up with strong metal ties that dug into my side and my wings.

"You were trying to shoot me I assume? Well, I'm flattered. Not surprised though, since your aim is so bad anyways that I could be standing in front of you without any cover and there wouldn't a scratch on me after you unloaded your full magazine. See Tourmaline, this is how we deal with those who are disrespectful to me. In time, you'll learn respect for me as well." Scarlet's feet stepped into view, and I wanted to tear that asshole to shreds. Scarlet continued taunting me. "Your love of your life is an idiot, all the dragons you brought here, are frauds, and soon you IceWings will learn your rightful place, at the bottom of the clawing order. Those towers look like fantastic prisons to me, and the arena, that is going to be majestic. Oh, how thrilling!"

The MP5K was still securely in my talons, and I shifted slowly, and tilted the gun so that the nozzle faced her feet, and with a satisfying click, I pulled the trigger once.

Scarlet jumped up with a scream and flailed her wings around. I quickly tied the MP5K under body, and the SkyWing who had been pinning me down leaped after the SkyWing Queen. "Your Majesty, where were you shot?"

Scarlet roared in fury and blasted flames into the sky, lighting up the clear meadow with a supernatural glow. "Fuck you! Fuck IceWings, fuck guns! That fucking bitch shot me in my foot!"

I giggled in glee, Scarlet dancing in pain certainly put her in her right place, but before I could stand up again, a new weight pinned me down. "Ho dear, where are we trying to go pretty one? I'm sure that shooting Scarlet in the foot took some bravery, but that was a really bad decision." His voice was laced with sarcasm. I tried to peer up but I could only see black scales, and the dragon seemed to be extremely strong, as he quickly dispatched all of my attempts at resisting him and he tied me down with metal bands that dug into my scales and wings. "Say goodnight dear." And the black dragon hit me with a club, and I couldn't hear anything anymore_


	4. Chapter 004

**RIOT IN TWO CHAPTERS!**

The Sky kingdom had its own beauty, one that rivaled the Ice kingdom, with serene meadows, and stunning rivers. The mountains stretched their hungry rock claws to the sky, and everywhere there was always _something._ The Ice kingdom was a pretty bleak landscape, and had only had two shades of color, blue and white, and there was so much ice and snow everywhere that it masked all of the vegetation that did exist. The ice palace was located near the shore of the icy oceans, where of course we could find plentiful seals to eat, but the main problem I saw with the Ice kingdom was that is was unapproachable. Nobody else but IceWings could appreciate that beauty. If the Great Wall didn't get them, the cold would.

It's good to sit back and speculate sometimes. Except when you're chained to the top of a stone pillar, overlooking the massive bowl that I assumed was the arena. I couldn't see Stream anywhere, but all the IceWings in my squadron were also chained atop these prisons. We weren't chained _to_ the pillar, but our wings were bound, and the pillars were so tall that any attempt off of it would result if painful injuries. One of the rowdier IceWings had tried, and I promptly threw up when I heard his death scream and the sound of skull bone fracturing. Not a fantastic idea.

The day passed agonizingly slow, and I feared sleeping would lead to me falling off the platform. So, I laid there in the cool breeze, and stared at the sun, as it slowly went west to the Sand kingdom, and disappeared. Even though we had phones in the Ice kingdom, Glacier hadn't allowed us to bring them here, because they could be tracked, and they contained certain sensitive IceWing data. And it made it really boring.

IceWings are diurnal dragons, and night time has always been full of monsters for me. I didn't get how dragons got by without the glowing moon globes in the Ice kingdom. Apparently, night time meant meal time for the SkyWings, and they came by and dropped a piece of leftovers from whatever feast that had just ended. Nobody would honor my questions, and when I tried to budge them harder, they blasted fire near me.

A week went by without no news of anything, the wind had ceased blowing though, and the sun piled on searing heat during the day, and Scarlet couldn't had found a more effective way to torture IceWings. We hate the heat, it absolutely sucked my energy, and drained me of any will. But finally, the guards came up to collect me. They untied me, and even though I made no motion to resist, they clamped firm clasps around my front talons, and guided me down to the arena.

With my front talons tied together, I couldn't land on them, and had to settle for a crash landing, rolling over my head twice, and much to the amusement of the guards, end up on my back. They removed the chafing clasps, and they flew off.

 _Strange._

The arena had sand in it, and it was quite massive, with copious amounts of seating on all four sides. A small fort was built in the middle, with several more huts scattered around the outside, maybe this was some sort of elaborate play?

Before I could come up with more equally unlikely case scenarios, the guards dropped several more prisoners into the arena, including Burgundy, Gyr, Bering, Kestrel, some fellow IceWing soldiers, and the only dragon that mattered to me.

Stream immediately ran toward me, and knocked me down with his embrace. "I can't believe Scarlet imprisoned us. I am going to shoot that bitch in the head, and I-"

I stopped his words with a gentle kiss to his snout. "I've missed you too, even a week is too long to be separated."

Gyr stepped forward and held us apart with his wings. "Enough, enough, we don't need two grief-stricken lovers to reunite right now. It's time to get out of here, and he pulled a battle rifle out of his left wing and held it with his talons. "Let's see how these fuckers like bullets."

When the SkyWings had flew off though, I started to hear a buzzing coming from near the top of the arena, where the first row of dragons would hypothetically look down upon the show, but it was definitely louder now, and while the rest of the IceWings mulled about in the heat, Stream and I inspected the "roof" of the arena. Curious, Stream tore off a piece of his vest and threw it up, but it came back down just the same way.

"Maybe it only reacts to living things?" I didn't want to test it though.

And I didn't have to, as hundreds of dragons entered the stadium at that moment, filling up the outside seats, and there was a ledge high above all the other seats, from which a throne was brought forward. _Two_ thrones. Scarlet filled up one of the them, but a large SandWing with a mean expression sat down in the second one.

Bering had sidled up to my side without my notice. "The SandWing is Burn, she's really cruel from what I've heard, they say she was the one who murdered Oasis, and she experiments with strange creatures all the time, dissecting them, filling them with stuffing, and proudly displaying them."

 _Cruel._ Could she be crueler than Scarlet?

The same loud boisterous red SkyWing who had interrupted my wedding appeared in the sky, and he had some sort of microphone in his talons. He hovered in the center of the stadium, and when the ruckus of stamping wings and talons finally quieted, he blasted everyone with his voice.

"WELCOME FELLOW DRAGONS, TO THE FIRST EVER ARENA FIGHT! HERE, YOU WILL _NOT_ BE DISAPPOINTED IN THE ACTION! WE ARE CELEBRATING OUR FABULOUS QUEEN SCARLET'S RISE TO POWER, AND WE HAVE AN AMAZING SHOW FOR Y'ALL TODAY. LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR QUEEN SCARLET! GIVE ME SOME OF THAT GOOD STUFF!"

Scarlet rose from her throne and stood up proud, and Burn sat still with her arms crossed, and from the angle of her face, she was obviously not paying attention to anything at all.

"Thank you, thank you, for that excellent introduction, Vermillion. My family of SkyWings, my tribe, may I present to you, a new form of entertainment, with gory deaths and split-second turn of tides, I have devised the perfect way to have our prisoners go through a barrage of contests that will ultimately provide them their freedom. Or-"

She waited until all the noise in the audience fell to an ominous silence to continue. "Or their glorious deaths. Today's challenge will be battle royale. Whoever emerges victorious amongst our contestants, will have a chance at our second challenge. Back to you, Vermillion."

"Here are the rules, any injuries to the audience, will result in permanent execution. That is all. CLAWS AT THE READY, LET'S GO!" He hightailed out of the center of the arena and vanished over the side of the stadium. The audience looked on expectantly, and the contestants stood there in equal confusion.

Stream walked up next to me and put his wing over me. "I think they want us to kill each other."

Gyr, Kestrel joined Stream on the other side, and we stood in a half circle, and we stared defiantly at the audience. With Bering's urging, the rest of the IceWing soldiers followed in suit, and we formed an entire circle, all ten of us. The audience groaned.

"Oh, come on, can't you silly lizards be at least a little aggressive?" Scarlet's face read disappointment, but her face suddenly lit up. "I have a BRILLIANT idea! We'll get right to the second challenge, and my dear Burn, you will finally get to see the thrilling technology that went into this arena." She looked down upon us, and in a menacing voice, said, "Prepare to be electrocuted."

Right on cue, as if summoned by magic, a rushing sound of water became audible, as the first jets of the blue liquid rushed into the arena. From twenty outlets in the side of the arena walls, water poured into the arena, and slowly, our feet were covered. At first it gurgled around our talons, but it climbed to our legs, then creeped up. The dragons in the audience had slowly fell silent, and chose to watch us be electrocuted.

Stream nudged me. "The water is going to rise to the top of the arena walls, and that buzzing, it's going to send shocks through the water, and kill us."

"So, we're doomed anyways?"

"Not exactly. I need to know if this will kill me." He spread open his wings, and stood up on his back legs. He spread one of his wings toward the top of arena wall, and I held my breath. The audience stopped their yapping and held their breaths, and Scarlet's eyes widened. Burn's eyes lifted up from her phone, and seemed at least mildly interested.

His wing went over the top of the arena wall. And he didn't die.

It didn't take five seconds before all the dragons were in the air. "Move, let's go!" Stream led us out of the arena, and we were flying away, south of the stadium, away from the palace, away from Scarlet. I could hear her screaming at her soldiers, and the audience panicked.

I looked to my left, but Stream wouldn't look back. He kept his eyes forward and only increased his speed. Within two minutes, the palace was out of view, but he still wouldn't stop. It wasn't until we began to see the shore in the distance that he finally slowed down and landed. The rest of us followed suit and all ten of us were soon gathered together in another clearing, and I could hear the sea crashing against the rocky shores.

"You all stay here, I need to go back and grab something." And before I could grab onto his arm, and plead him to stay, he was gone.

"Well, that's disappointing. Thought he'd have more wits about him than to do such an idiotic thing." Gyr put away his battle rifle and looked at each one of us. "Any more brilliant plans?"

Kestrel stepped forward. "We need to hide ourselves, and no offense, but your scales can't exactly camouflage." She glanced over at the IceWings. "You guys simply stand out anywhere you go."

"Then we should leave now. We'll fly back to the Ice kingdom right now." Bering replied. "We'll be out of your scales soon enough. We can-"

One of the IceWings piped up. "Wait! Not all our IceWing soldiers are here, there's at least another twenty still locked up in the prisons. We can't abandon them! What will Queen Glacier say if we leave our compadres stuck here?"

I spoke up. "We can tell her firmly that we need to mount an attack immediately."

"Yeah, with what air force?" Bering retorted. "Scarlet has all our planes, and that's half our air force right there. And our navy? We don't know if Scarlet has an alliance with Queen Coral right now, we need to get the SandWings to mount an offensive attack."

The feebleness of our army struck me. "We only have _how many fighters?"_

"Around seventy, the SkyWings have more than seven times that amount."

Gyr popped back in. "So, we're fucked, you're fucked, and we're all fucked anyways. That's frickin' fantastic. Let's go into the Mud kingdom, as far as we know, it's safe there." He spread his wings and lifted off, circling twice before shooting toward the sound of flowing water. The rest of us followed suit. Except me because I'm an idiot, and I couldn't bear to abandon Stream, that would be leaving like drinking bleach, just less fun. I did go hide in the trees, knowing that my silvery white scales would certainly give me away if any passing dragon happened to be flying over, and I sat in a heap, mulling over the choices.

I wanted to kill Scarlet, squeeze her life out of that silly vain neck with my bare talons. Maybe freeze her body with my frost breath, then slowly, with a hammer, dismember her piece by piece. I wanted to see the blood fly, her feeble cries for mercy, and the satisfying feeling of denying her any form of good, and to be the one who destroyed her as she had ruined my plans. Temporarily anyways, but I wanted her to feel permanent pain, pluck out her scales one by one, and hear her pained groans and moans before she bled to death. Revenge would be-

Stream landed in the meadow and peered around him. "Kestrel? Gyr? Australis?"

I was salty that he called my name last, but I raised myself off the ground and walked back into the meadow, whereupon seeing me, he leaped forward and embraced me again. He panted excitedly. "I did it Australis! I stole my gun back from her throne room. I actually got in and out of _Scarlet's throne room_ without anyone noticing!" He brandished his red MP5K, but I was more interested in his body, where on one side there was a bloody line that bled lightly when I traced a claw along it. He winced but didn't move.

"Maybe one of the guards did notice me," he admitted sheepishly.

"We should go join up with the others, they're in the Mud kingdom," I ordered abruptly, and without waiting for his reaction, I leapt off in the same direction that the others had gone. Stream had gone back, risking his life, for _a fucking gun._ Why would he risk his life and make me scared like that just for a _gun?_ I shook my head rigorously, trying to clear out the malicious thoughts of self-worth and continued flying. It wasn't long until the marshes of the Mud kingdom started to appear, and soon enough, I could see a few white wings sticking out under the cover of the trees.

The first thing about the Mud kingdom was that it was soggy. EVERYWHERE. Anywhere you stepped, oh, now your entire foot is stuck in mud. What appeared to be solid land, just another mud pile, and that one had an angry crocodile in it too. And the bugs would simply not _fuck off._ In your snout, up your nostrils, resting on your horns and in your ears, they made the whole situation unbearable.

"Ew, this is a disgusting place," Kestrel complained as she lifted one of her talons up, examining a frog that had attached itself to her, "Why would anyone want to live here?"

"Because it's our home, and you IceWings don't look like you belong here."

I swung my neck around and rising out of the marshes came at least twenty MudWing soldiers, each one bearing a m249, huge auto firing squad guns that had humongous two hundred round magazines. They dwarfed the MP5K strapped under my wing, and I knew that we had no way to fight back. I heard Kestrel gasp, and the IceWings muttered in disbelief.

One of the MudWings barked orders to the others. "Gather them up, we're going back to the Sky kingdom, Queen Scarlet will be pleased to hear that Queen Moorhen's troops have caught the runaway prisoners."

"Yes, indeed she will. In fact, she is currently overjoyed, and will take the operation over right now." A dozen SkyWings landed around them, with Scarlet at the forefront. The leading MudWing scowled but didn't respond.

We were up in the prisons, again. This time the sky towers didn't seem as frightening as the first time, but it still drove me nuts to have been close to escaping, but caught yet again. Stream was on the tower next to me, but he just kept making forlorn faces at the palace, and never did turn his face to me, like he was embarrassed to see me. That was entirely fine, as I wasn't going to forgive him for going back to get his gun just yet.

The entire IceWing squadron had also been locked up, and we occupied over half of the available prisons. I didn't doubt that Scarlet had a plan to get rid of us that involved that arena below, and this time, we wouldn't be able to escape like we did the first time.

Gyr was inspecting his battle rifle. He would periodically lift it up and peer down his sights, put his talon on the trigger, and stay still. He didn't fire, but wanted to badly.

Kestrel was moping around in the sun, she was impatient, and paced around the top of the platform every minute. She ate everything the guards brought us in one bite, and she was definitely not happy about the situation.

It was two days after we had been caught before something interesting happened. Gyr finally pulled the trigger, and we heard a muted shot, and a muffled yell in the distance. Five guards came up to inspect us, and they went to Gyr immediately, since he had his gun out. I couldn't quite hear what they were interrogating him about, but Kestrel pulled her dual pistols out, and shot two of the guards, Stream took out another, and following suit, I pulled out my MP5K and ended another. The final guard whipped his neck around, but before he could yell for help, I heard a gunshot from my left, and he fell down, dead.

I heard a sigh from the dragon on my left, and I saw Bering holding his pistol, still smoking from the shot. He lowered it, and put it back into his holster, and I looked back at Gyr in time to see him release his chains. He threw the key to Kestrel, then Stream, then me, then all the other IceWings, and we took off to the west.

When we finally landed in the mountains, I finally dared to speak. I whispered. "We made it, we actually got away from the Sky kingdom."

"Actually, no." Gyr held up his battle rifle and aimed it at my skull. "Bering, give me that jewel. The sapphire."

Stream whipped his head to face the IceWing. "You had the jewel? The one I gave to Australis."

Bering nodded. He took the jewel out and threw it over to Gyr, who hungrily examined the small blue gem. Stream made a move for the jewel. "That's mine though! I gave it to Australis. How did you get in still?"

"Stop moving. It's mine you fucking idiot." Stream opened his mouth and tried to respond, but Gyr waved his talons and Stream froze where he stood. "Shut the fuck up. I've had enough of your bullshit. Actually, you will now cease to appear." Stream turned his head toward my direction tried to scream, but he his wings and his scales were shrinking, his entire body was slowly shrinking, until he was the size of a small dragonet, but he continued to shrink, until he could fit in my palm, then he had shrunk down a tiny speck that sparkled red, and it left a little red trail of smoke as it flew into the sapphire that Gyr held out in his palm.

I couldn't help but stare at Gyr, and at the jewel. There was no way he did that. Stream wasn't just a spell. He _wasn't._ "What did you do to Stream?"

"Haha. Stream's just a figment of your imagination. He'll be fine." Gyr held up the sapphire. "He's in this sapphire for now." He directed a nasty smile toward me. "Therefore, you'll just have to live without him for now. I'm sure you'll all be fine. Back in Scarlet's prison that is." He turned his head up to the sky and blasted a stream of flame, then aimed his battle rifle aimed at my head, and he peered around at the other dragons. "You run, she dies. You will also die."

Scarlet landed in front of him. "I do thank you for keeping them here. Soldiers, we're going to execute them publicly. By axe. You, Gyr, will be paid handsomely. We thank you for your services."

 _No no no no no no shit shit shit shit shit. Why did I let this happen? How was Stream just a charm under Gyr's spell. I loved_ him. _I was going to marry him, and have, no, that's not, SHIT WHAT THE FUCK._ The rage boiled up inside of me, like hot steam rising from lava pools. With an angry roar, I lunged at the SkyWing Queen and clawed at her wings, at her snout, at her belly and tail. Savagely, I growled loudly and punched her face, not caring about whether the consequences. I was so fucking fed up with this bitch that I couldn't contain myself. It took three other SkyWing soldiers to drag me away from the SkyWing Queen, and when she recovered, she glared at me while I panted.

"Stupid IceWing, when will you learn your place?" I heard giggling coming from behind her, and Scarlet whipped her head around to scold the dragon behind her. "THIS IS NOT FUNNY TOURMALINE. I WILL KILL YOU TOO SOMEDAY."

"Whatever, mom." A few SkyWing soldiers snickered, and Scarlet glared at them all.

I grabbed the sapphire out of Gyr's claws, and was already in the sky before she turned back, and so were Bering, and a couple of other IceWings, I stoutly refused to look back, and I knew that Kestrel would be right behind us. Gyr, he could fucking mope around Scarlet is he really wanted to be a sell out. For another hour, I flew on, and the landscape below slowly turned more mountainous, and colder, with snow first appearing on the peaks, then spreading out to cover the ground. When my wings started to tire, I circled around and landed near a clump of pines, and I heard the rest follow suit. Stamping in the refreshing snow, I turned to face them. Bering, and three other IceWings were there. Kestrel was nowhere. Dread filled my mind.

"No, she would had been smart and took off as well. She wouldn't had been caught. She couldn't have been caught. She's just out there flying away from Scarlet just like we did," I said to no one in particular.

Bering made me look at his face, full of pained but frank truth. "I saw her. She didn't take off, she was swamped by the rest of the SkyWing soldiers. I'm sorry, but she didn't make it."

"Then let's go back and rescue her!"

"No, that would be suicide, we need to go to Glacier now, she's our only hope, we need to report everything that's happened. She doesn't know yet about Scarlet, about the prisoners. It's time to go back home." He nudged me with one of his talons. "Let's go."

I sighed solemnly. He couldn't be more right. With sodden heart, I jumped back into the air, and followed the rest of the all too eager IceWings back to the palace, where I couldn't be more disappointed by the dull ice, and the impressive palace didn't light up my feelings. It was all too monotone, unlike the colorful greens, vibrant deep colors of the Sky kingdom. There were too many straight lines, and no natural chaos. Chiseled pieces that fit too well together.

Whatever the case, I headed for my own dorm, and didn't bother to even close the door, just crashed down upon the slippery smooth ice bed, and while I held the sapphire close to my heart, the world collapsed on me.


	5. Chapter 005

**riot in chapter after the next. probably.**

"Good morning, Australis." Somebody kept tapping my foot until I sat up. Glacier rested her claw on my foot and looked at her phone nonchalantly until I stopped rubbing circles out of my eyes, lifting her eyes to meet mine. "So, did you get that alliance?"

I hesitated, but before I could answer, Glacier answered her own question. "I see Scarlet didn't take kindly to having IceWings in her kingdom. Cirrus told me the news, he's a spy, a very good one, he's never been caught. Unlike your entire squadron."

Puzzled, I respond, "How come I didn't see him?"

"There are some things I cannot divulge. I have also heard about your dismal failure about obtaining the animus powers. Australis, you have sorely disappointed me, but I can't dwell on this. I am preparing for war. The SandWing army has already amassed to the south, and they're waiting for our move. It's going to be a long time before things get better. If we had animus power, this could had been over already, but things in life are never that easy. To war we must go," she spoke frankly.

 _But Gyr was a fucking idiot. And Stream loved me, and I loved … a figment of my imagination._ Gyr's words coursed through my mind, looping over and over. _It couldn't be fair, it wasn't, it just didn't make sense. How could a dragon be_ this _jewel?_ I held up the sapphire and inspected it closely. Was Stream that faint cloud in the idle?

"Where did you get that sapphire?" Glacier took special interest in the jewel, taking it from my claws and inspecting it herself. "I did not know that the SkyWing kingdom produced sapphires."

"Somebody gave it to me, I don't think they got it from the SkyWing kingdom," I spoke quietly, but instantly wanted to take my words and bury them into the ground.

"Oh really? I hope you don't mind if I keep it, I'll pardon your mistakes if you do, I think this will satisfy Cirrus very – hmmm," Glacier stopped. "You should go visit Bering, he's been wondering where you went for the past few days." She stood up.

"Wait!"

The IceWing queen stood at the entrance to my room. "Is there anything you want me to know about this jewel?" She held it up to her eye again.

 _I should tell her about Stream, about Gyr, about what actually happened in the Sky kingdom, she needs to know. She is my_ queen _._ I opened my mouth resolutely and forced the words lodged in my throat to march out of my snout. Glacier needed to know. But my fears took over my tongue. _I failed her. I let my own emotions come before the mission. She doesn't need to know that I fell in love with someone else, put myself before the tribe._ "Er- not really."

"All right, tell me if anything does come to mind." She left the room.

I smashed my snout on the wall. _Well shit. There goes my last relic of Stream._

The infirmary was near the top of the palace, and had open views to the sky, facing west over the ocean. There were quite a few beds in there, and it looked more hospitable than any room I've ever seen in the palace. Unlike the soft glow from the moon globes, the sun shone straight through and cast a harsher, but more natural light.

Bering was resting on the bed near the end of the hall, while the rest of the beds were empty, and I refused to acknowledge the shudder that went through me when I realized what would happen as the war broke out. With a forced smile, I greeted the IceWing.

"Glacier took the sapphire, didn't she?"

"Why would you care?" I snapped irritatingly at him.

"Just tell me who she gave it to."

"No. It's not relevant to you, and how did you know she took it from me?"

"I didn't, but _now_ I do. She was going to give it to Cirrus?" His snout lifted up in a hint of a smile.

"Maybe, maybe not," I replied in a snarky voice, annoyed that I just told him something that I didn't want him to know. "Why are _you_ so interested in that sapphire?"

"Yep, Glacier is going to give it to Cirrus. I'm interested because Cirrus mentioned it when he came around to check out my weapons. And Glacier wouldn't know about that sapphire unless somebody told her. Also, she wouldn't take it from you like that without asking about it, unless she already knew about it. I'm going to go find that jewel." He slid his body out of his bed and walked out of the infirmary.

As I saw his tail whisk around the corner, I called after him. "Good Luck. With That. I'll be on the sidelines watching you fail." I didn't want him to be right, not that he had a chance of course. But out of curiosity, and curiosity alone, I just had to be sure about his suspicions.

Bering's had a small room on the south side of the palace, on the top floor, looking out over the frozen plain. His shelves were full of little trinkets, and they whirred and sung together like a giant symphony of metallic voices, messy and disorganized. Sadly, that was probably also the state of my own room. He fiddled with something in a bin on the wall and threw a small metal plaque to me.

Bering, Weapons Development

"Glacier already knew that the there was little chance the SkyWings would side with us because Cirrus had told us about how there was some anti IceWing sentiment in the Sky kingdom, especially coming out of the aristocrats. She sent me to scout for possible places to launch my new invention at them. Quick and easy end to the war."

"That has nothing to do with your suspicions at all."

"No, but I just want to make sure that nobody has access to it for now." He grabbed a small piece of paper and stuffed it onto a small bag. "Curiosity will never kill the cat if the cat has the necessary precautions."

I followed him to the throne room, which I had never been in before, but was as stolid as I expected it to be. No dragons in sight, no lavish riches, no shining jewels. The four walls were covered in glittering ice, polished down to the last speck. Just a serene box that had no clue to what Bering was looking for.

Though, undeterred and still not owning up to the obvious errors in his suspicions, he continued on to the conference rooms, and as before, still no dragons in sight. I did take some free tea however. Bering didn't give up, but by his agitated footsteps, as well as his tail swishing back and forth, he was clearly alarmed.

I was taking a sip of my tea when he suddenly stood up and shot his wing out. We had ended up on a balcony overlooking a massive chamber, and below, was Glacier.

And several hundred IceWing soldiers.

"We will end this war within a month! After which Blaze becomes Queen of the Sandwings, we will bring a new era of peace to this land. We will do so with these wonderful new weapons that our Weapons Development team has been working on."

"Hmmm, I don't see the sapphire or Cirrus. He was the one most interested in my weapon though." Bering whispered over his neck. "Let's go back to my room."

"What even _is_ this wonder weapon?"

Bering pulled up a diagram on his laptop. "You see here, there's really two parts to this weapon, because it's a huge explosive that we mounted onto a carrier. The carrier was relatively easy to develop, and it'll carry this bomb over to the Sky Kingdom. It's _this_ that is the stroke of engineering that kept me up at night for months." He leaned forward and expanded the top of the diagram. "A humongous bomb that uses the forces of physics at a level so small that we cannot perceive visually. This thing can blow up the entire Sky castle and about a mile out on each side. I call it a _warhead._ "

"You plan to launch it at the Sky Kingdom?"

"Whenever Glacier gives me the signal to. I have the launch codes."

"What about the rest of our squadron though?" I couldn't quell the uneasy feeling in my stomach.

Bering looked at me in disbelief, the first time today. "You really think Scarlet will let them stay alive for so long, after we escaped? If she's smart, they're all dead by now. Electrocuted or beheaded publicly or something like that. She wouldn't let them be an annoyance to her." He spoke with a slight tone of bitterness in his voice.

"That doesn't make sense at all, she would use them as negotiation pressure."

"For what SkyWing prisoners? We can't keep any of them here, they would freeze. Frozen prisoners don't make for very powerful negotiation power."

"Well, still, you don't know for sure that they're not alive. When will Glacier tell you to launch?"

"In about three months. She was exaggerating the timeline at her speech today, but even though the carrier and the warhead are fully operational, we still have to go through quality checks, and because we only have one, we want to make it `perfect'. Also, because I don't wish to make more of these. They are, morally, terrible horrible frightening weapons of mass destruction. Really, I wouldn't like to fire these at all. The poor SkyWings."

I hadn't thought that Bering would be a morally responsible dragon. _Why would he care about a bunch of dragons from another tribe? It's not like I care-_ I decided to not investigate further.

"The poor SkyWings you say?"

"Yeah, they're all going to die, if they are anywhere near that castle. Though, it'll be an easy way to end the war, and then we can focus on peace. Then nobody else needs to die, everyone else will recognize us as the most powerful tribe in Pyrrhia and everyone will flock to join us."

"But why the SkyWings?"

Bering turned around and faced me, his startling blue eyes boring holes into my own. "You have to let go of the Sky kingdom and everything that happened. I saw your romances, your mission failures, how you put your emotion in front of your duty, and I respect that, Glacier did not take your wellbeing and dignity and other complications into the equation when she assigned you that job. But you won't have to deal with any of that as soon the Sky kingdom is behind you. Nobody else has to die, alright?"

I kept my mouth shut and nodded firmly. _It'll be for the better. Stream doesn't exist._ Instead of replying, I kept my eyes focused on Bering's screen, as he continued to study his diagram. His work was interesting I'm sure, but I couldn't help but trace the dark blue scales along his wings. IceWings were primarily a solid color, with little variation unlike Bering's scales.

"So…do either of you know what this is?" An intruder at the doorstep abruptly slammed the crap out of my "observations". I tripped over my talons and flopped on top of the unfortunate dragon sitting in front of me, squashing him.

When I had finally untangled myself from Bering, an IceWing with purple under scales stood at the entrance to Bering's door, seemingly full of himself. "So, you are Australis? I had a feeling you would be here." His words sounded like a sharp dagger being dragged across ice, gratingly slow.

I narrowed my eyes at him but Bering pushed me aside and walked up to the IceWing. "Cirrus, where did you find that sapphire?"

"But do you know what it is?"

"Tell me where you found it," Bering insisted.

"But what does it do?" Cirrus insisted back.

Bering peered at the little crystal for a minute, but he didn't give an answer. As Cirrus gaped open his mouth to yawn, Bering reached for the sapphire.

"NO!" Cirrus yelled before bringing closing his talons around the crystal and leaping back from Bering. "Sorry, I can't let you touch it, for now."

Bering stood confused. "What do you mean you can't let me touch it, for now?"

Cirrus clapped his talons on Bering's shoulder. "Don't worry about it buddy. How's the warhead going?"

"Well, it's operational, but we haven't done all the tests yet. It's not safe to launch it."

"That's wonderfully disappointing news." He turned his gaze, uncomfortably staring at me, his menacing eyes shining out from their sockets. "Her majesty got this from you this morning, and you brought it from the Sky kingdom, which is strange, because the Sky kingdom doesn't produce any sapphires. All they have are disgusting rubies. Do you have anything to say about this?" He held up the crystal, taunting me.

 _Stream…_

I didn't know where to begin with explaining Stream and Gyr, and the whole confuddling shit mess. There probably wasn't any threat with revealing what actually happened, except that he might tell Glacier. "No, of course not. I just found it on the side of the road."

"Hmm, well I thought it was more important. Here Bering, you can have it." He tossed it over to Bering, who fumbled with it before managing to grasp his talons around the sapphire. "I'll be in the lab," and he stepped out of the room, his footsteps echoing in the shiny hallways.

Bering stood still, his eyes glued to the blue jewel in his talons. His scales were shifting in the same way Stream's had, becoming smaller.

 _No no no no no no, what is happening? Why is the same thing that happened to Stream "happening to Bering? Gyr's not even here. Unless._

Nope, not possible. My mind did not want to go there. But that didn't mean that I would allow Bering disappear like Stream did. Lunging forward, I tried to grab onto the shrinking IceWing, and I did manage to brush his tail with my talons, and the magic acted upon me.

/

Jungles are absolutely terrible. They reek of half rotten fruit, and it's full of trees. Not that this world was real. It certainly was modeled very realistically, and when I punched a tree, my knuckles left a few traces of silvery blood.

I was on the edge of the forest and I could see a desert nearby, as well as another set of silvery scales. Bering appeared to be peering off into the desert but sat right on the edge between the jungle and the desert.

I started toward him, and the moss and dirt crunched silently below my talons, they felt so incredibly real, but this was an enchanted world. Bering made no move when I sat down next to him, continuing to stare off into the desert. I followed his gaze to find a SkyWing sitting on the desert, peering back at him.

"Australis, how did you get here?"

"Stream, but are you actually _real?_ "

He gave me a woeful smile. "I don't know myself, dear. I wish I could go over there, but tis not to be." He reached out his talons, but he couldn't get past an invisible wall that separated us. We stood in front of each other, but I never remembered being further away.

We looked into each other's sad faces and moped until Bering shifted uncomfortably. "Do you think Gyr is also Cirrus?"

Stream's gaze snapped away. "I'm also not sure. I think Gyr isn't a true SkyWing, based on the environment I appeared in, I believe he's a SandWing. But since you said an IceWing named Cirrus put you in here also, but I think that he's a … RainWing. I didn't know RainWings or SandWings has animus dragons. Gyr also may have messed with my memory."

The realization slowly unfolded in my mind. "Gyr and Cirrus are just disguises, aren't they?"

Stream shook his head. "I can't be sure. But this place does seem familiar, a bit of déjà vu, but whenever I try to reach back there, it's all foggy. I'm sorry I can't be of more use. This world wasn't here when I was summoned into the sapphire though. It appeared about ten minutes later, and you two spawned in right after."

"That can't be right." Bering spoke, "How did we appear in here right after this world was created if it was created ten minutes after you appeared here. There was at least a day between Gyr putting you in the sapphire and Cirrus zapping us here. Unless time moves faster outside or moves slower in here."

"With magic, there are few physical and moral bounds."

"Even so, I'd love to know how this "magic" is achieving time dilation. We'd have to be moving really fast for that to work," Bering was getting excited now. "Maybe if this so-called magic can do stuff like this, maybe we can use it to find solutions to other problems too!"

"Calm down Bering, we can't do any of that as long as we are stuck here." I waved the jubilant IceWing down. "We don't know how long we're going to be stuck here, and if we ever are going to be released. We might die in here for all you know."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure we are going to be taken from this world really soon. While I can't remember what Gyr has masked, he was _too_ careful in what he masked, so I can infer many things. For one, he has a mate, who is also an animus, and he has met with each one of the sisters before, and he created me, or altered me somehow."

I was puzzled. "How can you infer all these things?"

Bering explained. "I get it Australis. What he does is he thinks of Gyr as a SeaWing, if it isn't fuzzy, then from memory he would know that he isn't one. But when he thinks of Gyr as a SandWing, if it's fuzzy, then he knows Gyr masked that memory and therefore he is a SandWing. It's really simple logic, but also careless mistakes by Gyr."

Stream nodded in agreement. "I think we can all appreciate his carelessness. The reason I think that we won't be here long, at least for us, is that when I try to think about this world before, it is also fuzzy. That means I have been here before, which leads me to believe that I'll be summoned sometime."

"But what about us?"

"The name Cirrus doesn't come up at all in my memory, isn't clouded, so therefore I have never met him, and he has no relation to Gyr whatsoever. I really can't gauge when you two will get out."

"But I do." Bering drew out the small notes from his pocket. "Cirrus was looking for these, the warhead launch codes."

"Warhead?"

"It's an IceWing ultrapowerful weapon that can decimate an entire kingdom. We were going to launch them at the Sky castle in three months after we did all the systems checking. I guess Cirrus didn't want to wait that long. Or worse, he had other targets in mind."

Stream nodded again, but he seemed to be shrinking. "That is terrible. I wish you two the best of luck in stopping Cirrus and getting out. But Gyr seems to want me now. Au revoir Australis." He tipped his snout at me as the wind began to pick up.

"No! Don't go! Is there any way I can…?" I reached desperately for his talons, but the invisible wall pushed back, and Stream just continued shrinking. He appeared to be saying something, but his voice was lost in the swirling sand. I could only watch as he disappeared right before me, like he did in the Sky kingdom, his familiar face fading away into obscurity.

"That's not a great feeling is it?" Bering spoke quietly beside me. "Isn't the world unfair? Every time you found happiness, you lose it, you've lost Stream twice now." He sighed. "Cirrus is going to want those launch codes, but if he actually is an animus, then I can't trust anyone. He could have the entire kingdom enchanted if that were his desire."

I was only half listening. Twice, Stream had slipped away right in front of me. I hated Gyr, hated SkyWings, and myself more than anything, and these thoughts kept circling around and around in my mind. Stupid me, stupid Scarlet, stupid Gyr, Glacier, everything was just messed up in terribly horrible way that I could gain no bearing nor happiness from.

I didn't care when the jungle began to swirl around my feet, the wispy leaves fluttering around me and Bering. None of that mattered. I didn't look up when the ground below my talons changed from the cool dirt into a sandy beach, or that the brilliant night sky shifted to a blinding daylight, and the eerie silence punctuated with insect cries became the gentle roar of the ocean waves. Nothing mattered.

But somehow, a small part of me still decided to lift my head up, to see a mixture of odd dragons. Cirrus, as expected, but also a SeaWing, three SandWings, a NightWing, and finally two SkyWings, one of which seemed vaguely like Kestrel. I was about to note that but the rust SkyWing stepped forward herself.

"You…don't look like you've aged at all." She stepped forward menacingly and frowned, studying me from wing to talon.

"Uh… Your voice has deepened considerably."

Kestrel relaxed and let out a gruff laugh. "No _shit._ Seriously though, you don't look like you're thirteen years older, what kind of anti-aging voodoo have you discovered? You could make a new line of hot cosmetics with that."

I heard Bering inhale sharply next to me, but I said our disbelief out loud. " _THIRTEEN years?_ _THIRTEEN FUCKING YEARS?!_ "

The SeaWing flared his wings in protest. "Hey now, /you're a all-star, kappa/ there's no need for profanity. We can all discuss this in a perfectly civilized way."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Kestrel rudely shoved him aside, "As usual we don't give a crap what you have to say, Nautilus. You can up the shut fuck."

"Hmph! That's really rude, Kestrel. And you need to work on your grammar."

"I'll admit now, I'm no angel nor any scholar, but I am your strongest dragon, so deal with it. You see these?" She held up her front talons, showing off horrible burn marks on them.

Cirrus laughed, his first action ever since he had summoned me and Bering. "Nautilus, despite the fantastic leader you believe yourself to be, don't try to fight Kestrel, it will only make it worse. Instead, let's focus on my friend Bering here." He threw a wing around him, but his smile was unconvincing and too full of teeth, and his voice had an unmistakable hint of danger to it. "First, let's discuss the possible ways to end this war. My comrade Bering here has been developing a few technologies in the Ice Kingdom that we can be sure to use to our own advantage."

 _Bering was right, Cirrus did want those launch codes._

Bering shook his head. "I will do no such thing as give you those launch codes Cirrus. You know full well that I can't entrust anyone with them. I will launch the warhead at the Sky kingdom when the time is right."

"Hold on a second," Nautilus butted his way into the conversation and gave a stern look at Cirrus. "The path to peace does not involve more violence. Two, we don't know the situation with these two IceWings. Are they actually with the Talons or are they loyal to Queen Glacier? We can't have Queen Glacier know of our actions and positions. That's too dangerous."

Cirrus mumbled. "It's just an idea."

"Well, I know that Australis won't sell us out." Kestrel clapped her gigantic wing around me, pulling me close next to her. Only then did I realize how massive Kestrel had gotten.

"We have no business in alerting Glacier to your existence, but…may we please return to the Ice Kingdom?" Bering piped up.

"Wait, we?" I asked. _Do I even want to go back to the Ice Kingdom? I found Kestrel, I could join these Talons of Peace, maybe they're not so bad after all._

"It's your call, Australis."

 _They're advocating for peace. Bering will kill the SkyWings, I will have to deal with Glacier, there's an easy way out here. But Cirrus is here. What if he_ is _Gyr? What if the dragon that has thus caused me pain so far is standing in front of me, with that haughty ass smile? What if I ripped him to pieces right now?_ The answer to that was pretty simple, the rest of the "Talons" would probably rip me apart. I knew I couldn't live with Cirrus nearby. Turning my head to Kestrel sadly. "I'm sorry Kestrel, but I have to go."

We stared into each other's' eyes for the longest while before Kestrel finally heaved her shoulders. "I understand. You'll always find an old friend in me though. If we don't ever meet again, I'm happy that I ever did get to know you."

"Are you sure it's been thirteen years?"

"Yes, thirteen long years. I joined Scarlet's army for a few years, then I met this guy, and we had twins. I… also lost both of my dragonets to Scarlet, and I had to flee. Found the Talons of Peace, pretty much the only place left where I can be safe."

"You have accomplished a lot in those years."

"And I'm sure you will do the same in these coming years. Do me a favor, contact me if you find news of a firescale dragonet."

"I promise to alert you."

"Au revoir, Australis." Kestrel gave me a firm squeeze on my talons, before Bering and I leaped into the sky, and made our way back to the Ice Kingdom.


End file.
